The styling of the Cord 810 was the work of designer Gordon M. Buehrig and his team of stylists, which included young Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis.
While the first American front-wheel-drive car with independent front
suspension, it had an archaic tube rear axle with semi-elliptic rear
springs. Power came from a 4,739 cc (289 cu in) LycomingV8 of the same 125 hp (93 kW) as the L-29. The semi-automatic four-speed transmission (three plus overdrive) extended in front of the engine, like on a Traction Avant.
This allowed Buehrig to dispense with the driveshaft and transmission
tunnel; as a result, the new car was so low it required no running boards. It had a 125 in (3,175 mm) wheelbase.Reportedly conceived as a Duesenberg and nearly devoid of chrome, the 810 had hidden door hinges and rear-hinged hood, rather than the side-opening type more usual at the time, both new items. It featured pontoon fenders with hidden headlamps (modified Stinsonlanding lights)
(E. L. Cord owned a majority of Stinson stock) that disappeared into
the fenders via dashboard hand cranks. This car was first and one of the
few ever to include this feature.It also featured a concealed fuel filler door and variable-speed windshield wipers
(at a time when wipers were often operated by intake vacuum, and so
tended to stop when the driver stepped on the gas pedal). Its engine-turned dashboard included complete instrumentation, a tachometer, and standard radio (which would not become an industry standard offering until well into the 1950s). The most famous feature was the "coffin nose", a louvered wraparound grille, from which its nickname derived, a product of Buehrig's desire not to have a conventional grille.

The car caused a sensation at its debut at the New York Auto Show
in November 1935. The crowds were so dense, attendees stood on the
bumpers of nearby cars to get a look. Cord had rushed to build the 100
cars needed to qualify for the show, and the transmission was not ready.
Even so, Cord took many orders at the show, promising Christmas
delivery, expecting production of 1,000 per month, but the semi-automatic transmission was more troublesome than expected, and 25 December came and went with no cars built. The first production cars were not ready to deliver until February, and did not reach New York City until April 1936. In all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year, as the result of mechanical troubles.Supercharging
was made available on the 1937 812 model. Supercharged 812 models were
distinguished from the normally aspirated 812s by the brilliant
chrome-plated external exhaust pipes mounted on each side of the hood
and grill. With supercharging, horsepower was raised to 170.Early reliability problems, including slipping out of gear and vapor lock,
cooled initial enthusiasm. Although most new owners loved their sleek
fast cars, the dealer base shrank rapidly. Unsold left-over and
in-process 1936 810 models were re-numbered and sold as 1937 812 models.
In 1937, after producing about 3000 of these cars, Auburn ceased
production of the Cord. A single 1938 Cord prototype, with detail
changes to the grille and transmission cover, was built, and it survived
as of 2009.

The 810/812 design was re-marketed almost immediately, in 1940, as ailing automakers Hupmobile and Graham-Paige
tried to save money, and revive the companies, by using the same body
dies. Except for their similarity to the 810, their 4-door sedans, the Hupp Skylark and the Graham Hollywood,
were unremarkable. Retractable headlights gave way to plain headlight
pods, and power came from a standard front-engine/rear-wheel drive
design. Only about 1900 were built before production ceased in the fall
of 1940.Between 1964 and 1970, two further attempts were made to replicate the original Buehrig design for limited production. Both Tulsa, Oklahoma-based companies soon halted production amid financial difficulties. The 1966 replica Cord 8/10 was powered by a Corvair
drivetrain (the "8/10" designation represented the actual scale of the
car), while the 1968 through 1970 models were Ford and Chrysler powered.

The design of the Cord 810/812 remains one of the most distinctive of the 20th Century. In 1996, American Heritage magazine proclaimed the Cord 810 sedan ‘The Single Most Beautiful American Car’. The ‘Classic Cord’ Hot Wheels toy car of the 1960s, a convertible coupé, is one of the most valuable, and commands up to US$800 (2006) if still in an unopened package.